Slip
by Violet and Aqua
Summary: A chance encounter on the stairs leads to Tino falling twice. Human AU SuFin.


I've always been clumsy. It is almost impossible for me to walk anywhere without tripping or dropping what I'm carrying, and I can't walk up a flight of stairs without stumbling at least once. I am also lucky, because I have never had more than a few scratches from my falls.

I arrive back from school at the apartment block my and my mum moved to 2 months ago. I walk to the lift but yet again it is out of order so I sigh and begin the long and danegerous climb up to the 5th floor. Three flights of stairs later, I am feeling quite proud of myself. I haven't dropped the folder I am carrying once, and only tripped over my own feet a couple of times. As I step onto the landing, though, someone walks out of one of the doors. I instantly recognise him as the guy in the year above who always looks at me strangely. His height, his unsmiling expression, the way I catch him staring at me all scare me so when I realise that he is coming towards me, my immediate reaction is to drop the folder. Not a good move. Suddenly there's a tangle of feet and paper, and then I'm falling backwards, hitting the stairs, hearing a crack and feeling a rush of pain, falling again into darkness...  
"...no, T'no, wake up."  
As my vision clears, I see blue eyes behind steel glasses, blond hair and an unsmiling mouth. I somehow manage to put this together as the face belonging to the scary guy, and for some reason this makes me really happy.  
"'t is T'no, isn't 't?" he asks. I nod then squeal and grimace as the pain starts to come back.  
"Paska! My leg really hurts."  
He nods. "Th'nk it's broken, it's at a bad 'ngle," he tells me. "'m going t' call 'n 'mbulance."  
He pulls out his phone and I suddenly realize I can't stop watching him. To distract myself, I look down to see how bad my leg looks. The sight of the bent limb makes the pain greater, if that's even possible. The darkness threatens to return until I feel the touch of the other guy's hand on my shoulder. The simple action sends my heart racing and I jerk away. It's just the pain, I think, not him, isn't it? I must have moved my leg because the darkness suddenly rises up and engulfs everything. My last sensation is the strange happiness somehow connected to the other guy.

* * *

Berwald's POV

I couldn't help falling in love with Tino. Everything about him is adorable , from the way he trips over anything, even the air if nothing else is available, to his feminine figure. Even the slightly scared looks he gives me when he catches me staring at him across the canteen, although I feel guilty about that. I'm not too hopeful, though. He's probably terrified of me like everyone else, and I don't even know if he likes boys.

I'm just leaving my apartment to visit Matthias and Lukas when I see Tino coming up the stairs. When he sees me he looks shocked and scared and drops his folder. I can only watch as his feet tangle with the spilling notes and he slips and falls backwards down the stairs. A sickening crack follows. The sound shocks me into action. I run for the stairs, almost falling myself in my haste to reach him. When I reach Tino, he's unconscious. His leg is bent under him unnaturally. I have no idea what to do so in the end I settle for trying to stop panicking and saying "T'no, T'no, wake up." He opens his eyes and I breathe a sigh of relief.  
"'t is T'no, isn't 't?" Of course I didn't need to check. I had tried to find out his name as soon as I could after first seeing him. He nods then squeals and grimaces.  
"Paska! My leg really hurts."  
"Th'nk it's broken." I tell him. "It's at a bad 'ngle. 'm going t' call 'n 'mbul'nce."  
I turn away and take out my phone. Just before I press dial, I look over to Tino to check he's okay. He's staring down at his broken leg with his face white. He's probably about to faint again so I walk over and place my hand on his shoulder. Suddenly he jerks away from my touch. The movement must have disturbed his leg because his eyes shut and he slumps back against the wall. I pick up my phone and call the ambulance, then Lukas to tell him I can't come over. "Ya know where T'no lives, r'ght? Could ya tell his mum?"  
"Okay, as soon as I can persuade Matthias to let me go."  
I sit down next to Tino to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

I visit Tino in hospital the next day. 'Thanks for helping me yesterday, um... what's your name? You never told me," he says. I realize that I never had.  
"B'rwald," I tell him. He laughs.  
"I can't keep on thinking of you as the scary guy from the year above. Not that you're scary, I think you're nice and kind of sweet and attractive and I love you... perkele, I did not mean to say that, please forget about it,"  
"'t's fine," I interrupt. "I love ya too, T'no. H've done since I f'rst saw ya." His relieved smile is just one more thing to add to the list of things I love about him.  
I lean forward to place a hand on his shoulder, but Tino has other ideas. He pulls me forward until our lips touch and starts kissing me. I return the action immediately, deepening the kiss. When we pull away, I suddenly remember that we are in public. Luckily, though, the only other patient is fast asleep. Somehow, impossibly, he has a cat sleeping on his chest. "I think it's a new record for me," Tino says suddenly. "I managed to fall twice from one slip." I don't understand so I wait for him to continue and explain.  
"Once down the stairs and once for you," he laughs. "The accident yesterday was the best that could have happened."


End file.
